Top Brands: Sphero - Wonder Workshop - Makeblock - Amazon Kids
BLACK FRIDAY: Amazon Fire Kids Pro 10"
BLACK FRIDAY: Amazon Fire Kids Pro 10"
NEWS$show=/search/label/news
Here's where you'll find all the latest news about technology for children. We love to follow cool new inventions on Kickstarter and we hunt out all the latest announcements about tech toys and gadgets for the coming Christmas holidays. You'll also get our take on children's technology stories in the media.
REVIEWS$show=/search/label/review
Our kids technology product reviews are intended to help you work out whether a toy, gadget or kit is a good fit for your child or family.
There's lots of cool stuff available, but is it the right choice for the child or teenager that you are buying for?
We'll help you make the right choices and get the best value for money.
GIFT GUIDES$show=/search/label/gift%20guide
Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends assemble. We create gift lists to help you make good choices for kids technology which helps them develop the right skills for the future. We research the best in Coding Toys and Games, Making / Craft Tools and Kits, STEM/STEAM related gifts, Programmable Robots, Electronics Kits and Gadgets for Tech Age Kids and Teens.
PROJECTS$show=/search/label/project
Get crafty with technology. Here we'll post all our ideas and projects using technology to get creative and making with kids. You'll find anything from making a lemon battery to a glow-in-the-dark Minecraft sword. Our projects are tried and tested on our own kids or at events we run, so we are sure you can have a go at home with your kids. Some of our projects use specific tech gadgets which we provide links for you to purchase.
STEM$show=/search/label/stem
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In recent years there is an increased focus in these areas of study. We like to include Art and Design too, so we often talk about STEAM (A stands for Art). At Tech Age Kids we believe Coding is a new literacy and children need to understand how technology works, practice making skills and grow in their curiosity to make a better future for us all.
CODING$show=/search/label/coding
Coding is increasingly being recognised as an important skill for children to learn. Some will learn to code at school or at a coding club, but it's brilliant if they get support at home too.
ELECTRONICS$show=/search/label/electronics
We think it's really important for kids to get hands-on with electronics and learn how to make circuits and write code to control hardware.
Younger kids can start with conductive playdough. For kids who like to combine craft and tech, littleBits are fab. And we love SAM Labs wireless electronics components for making it easy for kids to make Internet of Things inventions.
Lots of electronics kits for kids have support for the Arduino microprocessor environment. The DuinoKit Jr is one of our favourites. Arduino is a fab skill for older kids and teens to develop.
ROBOTICS$show=/search/label/robotics
We love robots at Tech Age Kids, especially programmable ones. We've got lots of them and write reviews and projects that use them.
Our programmable robots for kids buying guide is a good place to start if you're not sure what's available.
Roby the mBot Meccano robot dog is one of our popular projects and has been with us to lots of events. Our Ozobot LEGO trailer is fab for kids who love LEGO and robots.
MAKING AND CRAFT$show=/search/label/making
We're advocates of the creative use of technology, but this needs to be balanced with developing physical skills such as papercraft, woodwork, clay modelling, technical drawing and soldering. If children don't develop these skills as they grow up then physical making projects can become frustrating rather than fun.
The Maker Community uses the term 'making' as a broad term to include all sorts of artisan skills or craft activities. Being able to make things can lead to life-long hobbies or even careers. It's a great feeling to be able to take a project from an idea in your head to a real object that does something.
We're particularly interested to explore products that combine maker skills with tech skills such as electronics but others focus purely on the physical making skills that are still important to modern making.
Primary school children in Australia are reported to be struggling to write with a pencil because they use tablets and other tech so much. The article reports that children are lacking in the fine-motor control and hand strength needed for writing and that this causes them to struggle at school. It's a good read and covers the importance of physical activity too.
It's easy to jump in and blame the use of tablets and computers and say kids should spend more time in more traditional activities, but I think that's the wrong approach to take for two reasons:
The importance of being able to hand write is something I'm certainly aware of and I make sure my own kids spend some time drawing and writing on paper as well as on gadgets - both are necessary skills these days in my opinion. They have also spent many times longer playing with LEGO than they have with any gadget which is also good for fine motor control.
However, I think a lot of the tech-time has also been useful for contributing to the skill of wielding a pencil effectively. At my kids' school a lot of the writing is on mini whiteboards to save paper and create less waste. In my opinion, this feels very similar to writing on a tablet with a stylus. So maybe encouraging the use of a stylus can make a positive difference. My younger son uses his LeapPad2 with a stylus all the time - it's how he is learning to form his letters correctly. And there's a new LeapFrog electronic LeapReader pen coming out that teaches kids to write with correct letter formation.
Some schools are even starting to use Boogie Boards which are electronic writing devices that have more of the feel of pen and paper. I can see this kind of technology becoming more widespread.
So I don't think it's about whether kids use technology but rather which technology they use.
I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more educational tech toys that help kids to develop fine motor control. And I think there are lots of reasons why using tablets is good for little kids too. Kids aren't less skilled than they used to be if they are using interactive content on a tablet - they're differently skilled.
As kids get older they will naturally be spending more time typing rather than writing. And there are other interfaces like swipe, voice and gesture which are becoming more popular. I don't see this as a problem. It's appropriate for the age we live in and the job market they are heading towards.
One of the problems with kids spending less time writing is that when they are older they find in hard to produce large amounts of text in an exam or classroom setting. At some point I think we are going to have to accept that typing (and in future maybe gesture control or even mind control) are appropriate in these situations once kids have mastered writing to a reasonable level.
Let's face it, how many adults can write by hand for several hours without their hands hurting. I certainly can't! Typing is a far more useful skill in the modern world.
I'm certainly not ready for my kids to drop handwriting skills altogether. But I think keyboard skills are important too. Particularly good posture and technique to avoid problems like RSI.
If kids are only using handwriting in school and spend the rest of their time using gadgets don't we need to shift our focus to teaching them to use the gadgets well and with good technique?
It's easy to jump in and blame the use of tablets and computers and say kids should spend more time in more traditional activities, but I think that's the wrong approach to take for two reasons:
- Using the right technology in the right way can actually help children to develop writing skills and keep them motivated.
- We're living in the tech age. Let's not dismiss the importance of tech skills. Some time does need to be allocated to learning keyboard skills and good computer posture. Maybe hand writing isn't quite as important as it used to be.
The importance of being able to hand write is something I'm certainly aware of and I make sure my own kids spend some time drawing and writing on paper as well as on gadgets - both are necessary skills these days in my opinion. They have also spent many times longer playing with LEGO than they have with any gadget which is also good for fine motor control.
However, I think a lot of the tech-time has also been useful for contributing to the skill of wielding a pencil effectively. At my kids' school a lot of the writing is on mini whiteboards to save paper and create less waste. In my opinion, this feels very similar to writing on a tablet with a stylus. So maybe encouraging the use of a stylus can make a positive difference. My younger son uses his LeapPad2 with a stylus all the time - it's how he is learning to form his letters correctly. And there's a new LeapFrog electronic LeapReader pen coming out that teaches kids to write with correct letter formation.
Some schools are even starting to use Boogie Boards which are electronic writing devices that have more of the feel of pen and paper. I can see this kind of technology becoming more widespread.
So I don't think it's about whether kids use technology but rather which technology they use.
I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more educational tech toys that help kids to develop fine motor control. And I think there are lots of reasons why using tablets is good for little kids too. Kids aren't less skilled than they used to be if they are using interactive content on a tablet - they're differently skilled.
As kids get older they will naturally be spending more time typing rather than writing. And there are other interfaces like swipe, voice and gesture which are becoming more popular. I don't see this as a problem. It's appropriate for the age we live in and the job market they are heading towards.
One of the problems with kids spending less time writing is that when they are older they find in hard to produce large amounts of text in an exam or classroom setting. At some point I think we are going to have to accept that typing (and in future maybe gesture control or even mind control) are appropriate in these situations once kids have mastered writing to a reasonable level.
Let's face it, how many adults can write by hand for several hours without their hands hurting. I certainly can't! Typing is a far more useful skill in the modern world.
I'm certainly not ready for my kids to drop handwriting skills altogether. But I think keyboard skills are important too. Particularly good posture and technique to avoid problems like RSI.
If kids are only using handwriting in school and spend the rest of their time using gadgets don't we need to shift our focus to teaching them to use the gadgets well and with good technique?
/fa-fire/ MONTH TRENDING$type=list
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At Tech Age Kids we've been testing and writing about kids coding toys for over 10 years. This post is our round up of the current optio...
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I asked my kids what they wanted to do, other than playing Minecraft, over a long weekend. Not that I didn't want them playing Minecraf...
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- speech sythesis
- sphero
- sphero mini
- spider
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- stem
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- stop motion
- stop motion studio
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- story
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- students
- subscription
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- tablet
- tablets
- tangible coding
- tech
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- technology
- technology will save us
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- top pick
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- toys
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/fa-dice/ RANDOM$type=blogging$m=0$cate=0$sn=0$rm=0$c=3$va=0$src=random-posts
- 2013
- 2023
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- 3DTin
- accessories
- activities
- adafruit
- advent calendar
- adventure games
- amazon
- amazon fire
- amazon prime
- android
- angry birds
- animation
- anki
- app
- app toy
- app toys
- appcessories
- apple
- apps
- arcbotics
- architecture
- arckit
- arduino
- art
- artificial intelligence
- astronauts
- astronomy
- augmented reality
- automaton
- awards
- battle bots
- battling robots
- bedtime
- big kids
- big tablets
- bigtrak
- bike
- binary
- birthday
- bitsbox
- black friday
- blockly
- blogging
- bloxels
- bluetooth
- board games
- book
- books
- boolean box
- breadboard
- bricks
- brixo
- buying guide
- camera
- cameras
- card game
- careers
- catroid
- celebration
- cellphone
- ces
- chemistry
- chess
- christmas
- circuit cubes
- circuit playground
- circuit scribe
- cleaning
- climbing
- code clubs
- code-a-pillar
- codebug
- coder
- coding
- cognitive learning
- communication
- comparison
- competition/challenges
- computational thinking
- computer
- computer games
- computer science
- computer vision
- computers
- computing
- conductive playdough
- connected toys
- construction
- conversational ai
- cozmo
- craft
- craft cutter
- creative thinking
- creativity
- crochet
- crowdfunding
- css
- cubs
- curiosity
- curious chip
- cyber monday
- dads
- data
- deals
- dens
- design
- design process
- design thinking
- digital parenting
- digital skills
- disability
- disney infinity
- dog tech
- dolls
- drawing
- drones
- duinokit
- earth day
- Easter
- ebooks
- eco
- edblocks
- edison
- edtech
- education
- egypt
- electricity
- electronic pets
- electronic toys
- electronics
- electronics kit
- electronics kits
- electtronics
- elementary
- elenco
- energy
- engineering
- entertainment
- ereader
- ereaders
- esafety
- escape the room
- event
- ewriter
- exercise
- family
- family tech
- fathers day
- Festival of Code
- fiction
- fire
- fitbit
- fitness
- fitness tracker
- flotilla
- flow charts
- flutterbye fairy
- flying
- force awakens
- force friday
- future
- gadgets
- games
- games console
- games consoles
- gaming
- gift guide
- gifts
- girls
- giveaway
- glow in the dark
- grace hopper
- grove
- hackaball
- hacksoton
- halloween
- halloween costumes
- hardware
- headphones
- health
- hexbug
- hexbug aquabots
- hexbug project
- high school
- history
- home
- home education
- homeschool
- hot toys
- hour of code
- html
- humanoid
- ICT
- in app purchasing
- indiegogo
- industry event
- innotab
- innotab 3
- innotab 3s
- internet access
- interviews
- invention
- ios
- IoT
- ipad
- ipad mini
- iphone
- jacquard
- japan
- java
- javascript
- k'nex
- k'nex robotics
- kano
- keyboard
- kickstarter
- kids
- kindle
- kindle fire
- kit
- kits
- kodu
- kubo
- label printer
- languages
- laptop
- laptops
- last minute
- leap motion
- leapfrog
- leappad
- leappad 2
- leappad ultra
- leappad2
- leapreader
- learning
- learning resources
- learning tablet
- learning tablets
- leds
- lego
- lego boost
- lego chain reactions
- lego mindstorms ev3
- lego power functions
- lego technic
- lego wedo
- let's start coding
- lights
- lightseekers
- little kids
- littlebits
- logiblocs
- logic
- logical thinking
- loom
- machines
- magnetic
- make it
- makeblock
- makedo
- maker
- makey makey
- making
- mardles
- mars
- mars rover
- marty
- math
- maths
- mbot
- mbot ranger
- me arm
- meccano
- meccanoid
- meccanoid 2.0
- merge vr
- mews
- michael faraday
- micro:bit
- microbit
- microcontroller
- microscope
- microsoft
- middle school
- miles kelly
- mindstorms
- minecraft
- minecraft mods
- mixed reality
- mobile
- modular electronics
- monsters university
- morse code
- mothers day
- motion capture
- motors
- mover kit
- movie
- movies
- mu
- mu toys
- munzee
- music
- my first robot
- national dog day
- nature
- new
- new year
- news
- news coding
- nikola tesla
- nintendo
- nintendo switch
- ohbot
- ollie
- on the web
- opinion
- origami
- osmo
- outdoors
- ouya
- ozobot
- papercraft
- paperwhite
- parental controls
- parenting
- parrot
- pc
- people
- pet tech
- pets
- phone
- photography
- photon
- physics
- pi day
- picks
- pimoroni
- pinoccio
- pixel kit
- pixelart
- play
- playstation 4
- plezmo
- pocket code
- pocket money
- pokemon
- pokemon go
- poll
- pre order
- pre-teens
- prehistory
- preschoolers
- primary
- printable
- products
- professor einstein
- programming
- project
- projects
- puzzles
- python
- racing
- raspberry pi
- reading
- reivew
- remote control
- research
- resource
- resources
- retro
- review
- rights
- robot
- robot dog
- robot fish
- robot wars
- ROBOTERRA
- roboticals
- robotics
- robots
- role models
- role play
- romo
- romotive
- root
- rover
- safety
- sam labs
- samuel morse
- sandbox
- schools
- science
- scratch
- scratchjr
- screen time
- screenless
- screens
- sensors
- servos
- simbrix
- skills
- skylanders
- skylanders superchargers
- skylanders swap force
- smart pens
- smartphone
- smartwatch
- snap circuits
- social media
- solar power
- soldering
- sonic pi
- sony koov
- sound
- space
- sparki
- speaker
- speech sythesis
- sphero
- sphero mini
- spider
- star wars
- stars
- STEAM
- stem
- stikbot
- stop motion
- stop motion studio
- storage
- story
- strawbees
- students
- subscription
- subscriptions
- sugru
- summer
- swift
- tablet
- tablets
- tangible coding
- tech
- tech age
- tech craft
- tech is bad
- tech is good
- tech toys
- tech will save us
- technology
- technology will save us
- teens
- teknikio
- tekno
- teksta
- tenka labs
- tesla
- textiles
- thames & kosmos
- the extraordinaires
- tim berners lee
- tinkercad
- tinybop
- toddlers
- toot-toot
- top pick
- touch
- toy
- toys
- travelling
- TTS
- TV
- tween
- tweens
- tynker
- typing
- ux
- vehicles
- videos
- view-master
- views
- virtual reality
- voice assistants
- voice recognition
- vr
- vtech
- web
- websites
- wifi
- wii
- wii u
- windows 8
- wonder workshop
- wowwee
- writing
- writing. education
- xbox one
- xyzprinting